Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Thursday. CR South/North Penn photos courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery of photos: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f716903222
SOL Patriot/Colonial crossover
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 60, NORTH PENN 45
Three Rock South players finished the game in double figures, and the Golden Hawks, who led by four at halftime, put the Knights away with a 32-point second half
“It was just staying the course, trying to get stops every time down, and then on the other end, being aggressive and making sure we get the best shot down every time,” Rock South coach Andrew Rogers said. “Coach (John Conrad) does a great job, and they just keep coming at you. I thought our guys did a good job – we had a couple of lapses, but other than that, we ran back and were trying to defend.
The Golden Hawks, who led 15-9 after one quarter, took a 28-24 lead into halftime. Timmy Rahill’s nine points on three 3-pointers led the way.
They all but put the game out of reach with a 20-13 third quarter burst. Jordan Getz accounted for seven of his team’s points in the quarter while Gabe Cerulli had six, and the Golden Hawks took a 48-37 lead into the final quarter on their way to the crossover win.
Cerulli led the Golden Hawks with 17 points and also had five rebounds. Getz scored all 15 of his points after the break. He also had three assists. Rahill finished with 12 points on four 3-pointers, and Ryan Delp had six points on two 3s. Mike Burns contributed six points, two assists and four rebounds.
“I often tell him it doesn’t go unnoticed – he does a lot of the dirty work,” Rogers said of Burns. “He’s
doing a great job.
“He actually guarded number zero (Ahmaar Godhania), who had 10 points, but I thought he really worked for all of them. He did a great job there, and he does a great job keeping us in offense. Some of his stuff doesn’t show up in the stats.”
Thursday’s win was the eighth of the season for the Golden Hawks, who won just five games all of last season.
The key?
“Just staying with it and having guys ready,” Rogers said. “I tell our guys all the time – I think our strength is our depth, and it can be a different guy every night.
“Ryan Wekluk has been a starter all year, and he got in foul trouble early, and we were able to have some guys come in and really pick him up.”
George O’Brien was one of the players who stepped up when Wekluk was on the bench.
“You see he only had two points, but he had a lot of timely stops on defense,” Rogers said. “He had four assists, four steals and four rebounds. He’s really doing a great job affecting the game in a lot of different ways.
“We have a lot of guys doing that, which is really good.”
For the Knights. Godhania, Lee Hammond and Corey Meade all scored 10 points while Tre Simpson added nine.
Council Rock South (8-5, 5-3 SOL) will travel to Pennridge for a crossover game on Tuesday, and North Penn (5-8, 4-4) will be on the road at Bensalem on Tuesday.
North Penn 9-15-13-8 45
Council Rock South 15-13-20-12 60
North Penn (45) – Ahmaar Godhania 4 0-2 10; Lee Hammond 2 4-4 10; Norman Gee 1 3-4 5; Corey Meade 5 0-1 10; Gabe Altemus 0 1-2 1; Tre Simpson 4 1-2 9; TOTALS 16 9-15 45.
Council Rock South (60) – Jordan Getz 6 3-4 15; Ryan Wekluk 1 0-0 2; Mike Burns 3 0-0 6; Gabe Cerulli 7 3-4 17; Timmy Rahill 4 0-1 12; Ryan Krepick 1 0-0 2; Ryan Delp 2 0-0 6; TOTALS 24 6-8 60.
3-point goals: NP – Ahmaar Godhania 2, Lee Hammond 2; CRS – Timmy Rahill 4, Ryan Delp 2.
SOL Liberty/Freedom crossover
WISSAHICKON 72, NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 39
Dom Vacchiano was feeling it.
The Trojans’ senior buried eight shots from beyond the arc – four in a 33-point first quarter for the Trojans. He led all scorers with 27 points.
Teammate Brayden Ryan also played a starring role in the Trojans’ first-quarter onslaught, scoring 12 of his 14 points – which included two 3s – in the frame. Behind the hot hands of Vacchiano and Ryan, the Trojans put 49 points on the board in the first half on their way to the decisive crossover win.
Also for the Trojans, Nicol Vacchiano added seven points while Michael Maltan and Caj Jones both had six points.
For the Lions, Liam Ross scored 14 points while John Nettles had seven, and Rocco Massimino, six points.
Wissahickon (5-8, 4-4 SOL) will travel to Bensalem for a non-league game Saturday at 4 p.m., and New Hope-Solebury (0-9, 0-7) will travel to Upper Dublin for a crossover game Tuesday.
Wissahickon 33-16-11-12 72
New Hope-Solebury 6-12-13-8 39
Wissahickon (72) – Mason Stelzer 1 0-0 3; Brayden Ryan 6 0-0 14; Nijel Harrison 1 0-0 2; Michael Maltin 0 6-6 6; Nico Vacchiano 3 1-1 7; Caj Jones 3 0-0 6; Gabe Lassiter 1 2-2 5; Josh Palutis 1 0-2 2; Dom Vacchiano 8 3-5 27; TOTALS 24 12-16 72.
New Hope-Solebury (39) – Heath Miller 2 0-0 5; John Nettles 3 1-2 7; Rocco Massimino 3 0-0 6; Jonathan Gormley 2 0-0 5; Liam Ross 7 2-9 16; TOTALS 17 3-11 39.
3-point goals: Wissahickon – Dom Vacchiano 8, Brayden Ryan 2, Mason Stelzer, Gabe Lassiter; NH-S – Jonathan Gormley, Heath Miller..
Non-league
ABINGTON 69, WEST CHESTER EAST 54
Abington made the long trek to West Chester East worth its while, coming away with another important non-league win.
“It’s a good win, and that makes us 5-1 in non-conference games,” Abington coach Dan Marsh said. “My goal is always to go 4-2 in those non-conference games, so to go 5-1 was nice with our only loss to Chester.
“West Chester East is a solid team. They’re going to win some games. They have a couple of kids who can play, but we were composed. They tried multiple defenses on us, and we were able to respond against all of them.”
The Ghosts, who led 14-11 after one quarter, outscored their hosts 16-6 in the second to go into halftime with a 30-20 lead. Khalid Jenkins led the Ghosts with nine first-half points – seven in the second quarter, and Jeremiah Lee had eight points.
Not a whole lot changed in a second half that saw the Ghosts hold a 39-36 edge.
“They were trying to play us the way Upper Dublin – in one of our three losses – played us,” Marsh said. “They played a little bit of a matchup zone and a packed in zone, but JJ (Jeremiah Lee) came out and hit two 3s right off the bat, which really helped.
“It was just a really good game. We got a 10-point lead, they would make a run, and we would respond. We’d get a 10-point lead, and they would respond. Finally, they made one more run at us in the fourth quarter, and Aaron Jones hit two big 3s to put the nail in the coffin, and that was it.”
Lee, who was 7-for-11 from the field, led the Ghosts with 16 points, which included two 3-pointers. He also had six rebounds, five assists and four steals. Aaron Jones and Khalid Jenkins both had nine points. Zander Grasty and Kamari Brasher added eight points while Paul Glants contributed seven points, eight assists and three steals. Kellen Ingram also had seven points.
“It was also nice to get some really good minutes from Xander Grasty, who’s a freshman and had eight points and two assists,” Marsh said. “To get him comfortable really helps us and gives us another scoring weapon.”
Abington connected on 28 of 52 shots from the field (53.8 percent). They were 8-for-19 from beyond the arc (42.1 percent) and 5-for-10 at the foul line.
Friday’s win was the 10th of the season for the Ghosts, making Marsh – in his first year at the helm –the second fastest coach in program history to reach double-digit wins. Only Dave Torresani did it faster.
Abington (10-3 5-2 SOL) will be on the road at Lower Moreland for a crossover game on Friday.
Abington 14-16-22-17 69
West Chester East 14-6-21-13 54
Abington (69) – Lathan Miller 1 0-0 3; Aaron Jones 3 1-2 9; Jaden Flournoy 0 0-2 0; Jeremiah lee 7 0-0 16; Paul Glants 3 1-1 7; Kamari Brasher 4 0-0 8; Jon Roberts 1 0-0 2; Kellen Ingram 2 3-4 7; Xander Grasty 3 0-1 8; Khalid Jenkins 4 0-0 9; TOTALS 28 5-10 69.
West Chester East (54) – Josh Sherlock 6 2-3 15; Bryce Cox 0 3-3 3; Becker Al-Tikriti 4 0-0 8; Kyle Keefe 2 1—2 5; Kahseem Bronzell 1 2-2 4; Amari Williams 0 2-2 2; Ryan Price 6 1-2, 17; TOTALS 19 11-14 54.
3-point goals: Abington – Aaron Jones 2, Jeremiah Lee 2, Xander Grasty 2, Lathan Miller, Khalid Jenkins; WCE – Ryan Price 4, Josh Sherlock.
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